Search

The present study dealt with the adsorption of eosin Y, as a model anionic dye, from aqueous solution using chitosan nanoparticles prepared by the ionic gelation between chitosan and tripolyphosphate. The nanoparticles were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), size and zeta potential analysis. A batch system was applied to study the adsorption of eosin Y from aqueous solution by chitosan nanoparticles. The results showed that the adsorption of eosin Y on chitosan nanoparticles was affected by contact time, eosin Y concentration, pH and temperature. Experimental data followed Langmuir isotherm model and the adsorption capacity was found to be 3.333g/g. The adsorption process was endothermic in nature with an enthalpy change (ΔH) of 16.7kJ/mol at 20–50°C. The optimum pH value for eosin Y removal was found to be 2–6. The dye was desorbed from the chitosan nanoparticles by increasing the pH of the solution. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The objective was to study effects of selected fungi, carbohydrate sources, urea, heat treatment and minerals on the reduction of free gossypol (FG) levels during solid substrate fermentation of cottonseed meal (CSM), and to determine the crude protein (CP) and amino acid (AA) content as well as the in vitro digestible CP and AA of CSM substrate fermented under optimal conditions. Six groups of autoclaved CSM substrate were incubated for 48h after inoculation with either of the fungi Candida capsuligena ZD-1, Candida tropicalis ZD-3, Saccharomyces cerevisae ZD-5, Aspergillus terricola ZD-6, Aspergillus oryzae ZD-7, or Aspergillus niger ZD-8. One non-inoculated group was the control. Levels of initial and final FG and CP were assayed. Results indicated that microbial fermentation could greatly decrease FG levels in CSM, but it differed among species of microorganisms with C. tropicalis ZD-3 the most effective. The CSM substrate was supplemented with carbohydrate sources, urea and minerals, and one group of non-autoclaved CSM substrate was used to investigate effects of heat treatment. The treated CSM substrates were inoculated with C. tropicalis ZD-3 and incubated for 24 or 48h. Results showed that CSM substrate supplemented with starch and sucrose enhanced detoxification of gossypol, but heat treatment and minerals were also effective in reducing FG levels during solid substrate fermentation of CSM. The detoxification effect with minerals was the best among treatments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The objective of this work is to optimize the process parameters for detoxification of gossypol in cottonseed meal (CSM) by Candida tropicalis ZD-3 during solid substrate fermentation (SSF). The maximum detoxification efficiency of gossypol was achieved by employing the substrate, which consists of 70% of CSM, 20% of corn flour and 10% of wheat bran. The optimum fermentation conditions for gossypol detoxification are incubation period of 48h, incubation temperature at 30°C, inoculum level 5% v/w, moisture content of solid substrate 50% and pH in nature. Adding minerals solution to CSM substrate benefit fermentation detoxification. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Thirty-two barrows (Duroc×Landrace×Yorkshire) were randomly divided into four groups, each of which included eight pigs. The groups received the same basal diet supplemented with 0, 100, 250 and 400mg/kg fluoride, respectively. The malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) levels, antioxidant enzymes activities and zinc/copper superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn SOD) mRNA content in the liver were determined to evaluate the fluoride hepatic intoxication. Results showed the increased lipid peroxides (LPO) level and the reduced GSH content, along with a concomitant decrease in the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px). Moreover, the level of hepatic Cu/Zn SOD mRNA was also significantly reduced. We suggest the mechanism of fluoride injuring the liver as follows: fluoride causes a decrease in Cu/Zn SOD mRNA and the reduced activities of antioxidant enzymes, leads to the declined ability of scavenging free radicals with excessive production of LPO, which seriously damages the hepatic structure and function. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The effectiveness of oral, mock-, and immersion vaccination was investigated against white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) in crayfish. The most exposed WSSV envelope proteins VP19 and VP28 were used in different compositions and with different modes of applications. In experiment 1 crayfish were fed recombinant protein coated food pellets for 25 days, in experiment 2 the purified proteins were directly injected to them followed by one booster dose on 5th day and in experiment 3 the crayfish were left immersed in vaccines for 7h. Experimental crayfish were challenged on 3rd and 21st days after last vaccination. The overall result showed that VP28 group has lowest cumulative mortality percentage accounting 39.6% at 3rd day and 39.83% at 21st day when injected and it was 43.2% and 49% when fed orally and 46.3% and 46.5% when immersed at 3rd and 21st days, respectively (p <0.05). In VP19 and VP28 (50:50) mixture, mock vaccination showed better performance (36.5%) over immersion (53%) and oral vaccination (53.2%) when challenged on 3rd day and mock vaccination (36.50%) followed by oral (51%) and immersion vaccination (56.5%) on 21st day as well. The VP19 recombinant mock vaccination group performed better (52.91% of 3rd day and 56.46% of 21st day) than oral (76% of 3rd day and 82% of 21st day) and immersion (83% of 3rd day and 86.3% of 21st day) vaccine groups. All the experimental groups except VP19 were significantly different (p <0.05) from the control groups. A positive cumulative effect was observed when VP28 was mixed with VP19 in equal proportion in all the experimental trials, which shows the effectiveness of VP19 as a vaccine component too. In the present trial on the basis of cumulative mortality percentage it is found that mock-vaccination group is more effective than the oral vaccination and immersion vaccination. It also suggests that specific memory exists in crayfish and the effects of VP28 are significant. The effect of VP19 along with VP28 has also shown significant effect against WSSV. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Follicular growth, development and ovulation are highly ordered processes that involve the expression of many genes under precise temporal and spatial regulation. However, information on stage-specific gene expression during the antral follicle phase in sheep is not well understood. In the present study, suppressive subtractive hybridization (SSH) was performed to screen genes that were differentially expressed in the granulosa cells between large follicles (LF, >5mm) and small follicles (SF, 3–5mm), and subtractive cDNA library was constructed. Furthermore, with dot-blot analysis, a total of 90 clones randomly selected from the library were proven to be differentially expressed in the granulosa cells. Among these, 38 exhibited high homology to known genes, 14 sequences were corresponding to novel expressed sequence tags (ESTs). Four ESTs, LAPTM4A, SERPINE2, GSTA1, and INHBA, were further examined the reproducibility of the SSH data by the real-time quantitative PCR. Results confirmed an increase expression of respective mRNA in granulosa cells of large follicles compared with that of small follicles. It is concluded that we have identified several genes (known or unknown) that may effect follicular growth, dominance or ovulation in ewes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The present study examined the effect of green tea polyphenols (GTP) during in vitro maturation (IVM) of bovine oocytes on in vitro fertilization (IVF) parameters, intracellular glutathione (GSH) concentration and subsequent embryo development. Cumulus-oocyte complexes were aspirated from the ovaries derived from slaughterhouse and cultured in modified synthetic oviduct fluid (m-SOF) supplemented with 0–25μM GTP for 24h. After IVM, cumulus-free oocytes were coincubated with frozen-thawed spermatozoa for 15–18h. Putative embryos were transferred to m-SOF and cultured for 8 days (Experiment 1). In comparison with the absence of GTP, treatment with GTP at a concentration of 15μM showed a significant increase in the proportion of pronuclear (PN) formation after sperm penetration (65% versus 80%, P <0.05). No significant differences in the rates of sperm penetration and polyspermic fertilization were found among treatments. The cleavage rate at 48h of in vitro insemination showed no difference in oocytes matured with or without GTP. However, compared to no addition (23.5%), the presence of 15 and 20μM GTP during IVM significantly (P <0.05) increased the proportion of blastocysts (38.1% and 36.4%) on day 9 of in vitro insemination. A further increase from 20 to 25μM GTP reduced (P <0.05) the proportion of blastocysts. In Experiment 2, after IVM, oocytes were fixed to analyze the GSH concentration. Compared to no addition, a higher (P <0.05) level of GSH was found in oocytes matured with 15μM GTP and compared with 15μM GTP, GSH was low (P <0.05) at 20 and 25μM GTP. The results suggest that at certain concentrations of GTP (15μM) in IVM medium has beneficial effects on subsequent embryo development, and is correlated with intracellular GSH level in bovine oocytes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A total of 90 weanling pigs (Duroc×Landrace×Yorkshire) at an average initial body weight of 6.1±0.8kg were used in a 30-day growth trial to investigate the effect of lactoferrin on growth performance, on intestinal microflora and on intestinal morphology. The pigs were allocated on the basis of weight and litter to three dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design. There were three replicate pens per treatment and pigs were grouped with 10 pigs per pen. The dietary treatments were: (1) basal diet, (2) basal diet+20mg/kg flavomycin+110mg/kg aureomycin, and (3) basal diet+1.0g/kg lactoferrin. Six randomly selected pigs from each treatment (two piglets per pen) were slaughtered for the intestinal microflora and intestinal morphology at the end of the experiment. Supplementation with LF improved growth performance, significantly increased the ADG by 34.0% (P<0.01) and ADFI by 17.0% (P<0.05), decreased the F/G by 12.8% (P<0.05) and the diarrhea by 66.2% (P<0.05). Reducing the total viable counts of Escherichia coli and Salmonella (P<0.05), enriched the colonic Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium (P<0.05) in the small intestine. The villus height was increased (P<0.01) and crypt depth decreased (P<0.05) at the small intestinal mucosa as compared with the control. Supplemental antibiotic also increased ADG and ADFI (P<0.05), decreased diarrhea (P<0.05) and reduced the total viable counts of some pathogenic bacteria (P<0.05), but not significantly affected beneficial bacteria and intestinal morphology. The use of lactoferrin as an additive to improve growth performance, prevent diarrhea, and affect on the intestinal microflora and morphology of weanling pigs would be good a method of defending weaned pigs from infections and weanling stress. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The chemical composition and microstructure of five urolith samples (4 bladder stones and one kidney stone) associated with the feeding of high level of cottonseed meal (CSM) diet to Chinese merino fine wool sheep (Junken breed, Xinjiang) were examined by optical microscope, X-ray diffraction, X-ray energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and infrared spectroscopy analysis. The bladder stone samples appeared yellow or white, small powder and loose mass, and as finely granular under the optical microscope. However, the kidney stone samples from a experimental sheep were found as small brown mass, higher hardness, and as a cracklike structure. Oxygen, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium were found as four major elements in these uroliths by X-ray energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS). Potassium magnesium phosphate (MgKPO4) and potassium magnesium phosphate hexahydrate (MgKPO4·6H2O) were major components in the bladder stones, while less magnesium ammonium phosphate hexahydrate (MgNH4PO4·6H2O) examined by X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy analysis. However, the newly found prismatic crystals, which were rich in magnesium and pyrophosphate, were identified as magnesium pyrophosphate (Mg2P2O7) in the kidney stone. The bladder stone samples appeared irregular mass and balls, cracked under SEM with low magnification, while appeared cracked, irregular layer-like, honeycomb-like or tiny balls under high magnification. The kidney stone samples were observed as cone, irregular block or layered crystal structures. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We investigated the mRNA expression patterns of receptor genes for bone morphogenetic proteins-15 (BMP15) and growth differentiation factor-9 (GDF-9) in granulosa cells of sheep treated with FSH. The effects of FSH and estradiol (E2) on the regulation of BMPRII, BMPRIB and ALK-5 in ovine granulosa cells were also examined. Ovaries were collected on day 16 of the estrous cycle and granulose cells were harvested from follicles of two sizes (3–5 and >5mm in diameter). For in vitro studies, granulosa cells were obtained from follicles of 3–5mm in diameter and cultured in serum-free McCoy''s 5A medium supplemented with different doses of FSH (0, 1, 5, 10ng/ml) or a combination of 5ng/ml FSH with 1ng/ml E2. Expression of BMPRII, BMPRIB and ALK-5 mRNA was estimated by quantitative real-time PCR. Our results demonstrated that BMPRII, BMPRIB and ALK-5 expression was significantly higher in the granulosa cells of large follicles than of small follicles. Treatment of granulose cells with FSH (1–10ng/ml) alone down-regulated the expression of BMPRIB (P <0.05). BMPRII and ALK-5 mRNA expression was not significantly different at an FSH concentration of 5ng/ml compared to control. A further increase in FSH (10ng/ml) down-regulated the expression of BMPRII and ALK-5 (P <0.05). The combination of FSH (5ng/ml) and E2 (1ng/ml) up-regulated the expression of BMPRII, BMPRIB and ALK-5 in granulose cells (P <0.05). Therefore, the present study establishes the expression levels of the receptor genes of BMP15 and GDF-9 and suggests that the expression of BMPRII, BMPRIB and ALK-5 may be regulated by FSH and E2 in ovine granulosa cells. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The aim of this study was to prepare and select chitosan nanoparticles loaded metal ions with high antibacterial activities. Chitosan nanoparticles were prepared based on ionic gelation between chitosan and sodium tripolyphosphate. Then, Ag+, Cu2+, Zn2+, Mn2+, or Fe2+ was individually loaded onto chitosan nanoparticles. Their particle sizes and zeta potentials were measured. Their antibacterial activities were evaluated by determination of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) against Escherichia coli 25922, Salmonella choleraesuis ATCC 50020 and Staphylococcus aureus 25923 in vitro. Results showed that antibacterial activity was significantly enhanced by the metal ions loaded, except for Fe2+. Especially for chitosan nanoparticles loaded Cu2+, the MIC and MBC against E. coli 25922, S.choleraesuis ATCC 50020 and S. aureus 25923 were 21–42 times lower than that of Cu2+, respectively. Moreover, it was found that antibacterial activity was directly proportional to zeta potential. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The objective of this study was to investigate toxic effects of aflatoxin B1(AFB1) on growth performance, organs, hepatic enzyme activities, apparent digestibility of nutrients and digestive enzyme activities in ducks. Ninety 1-day-old Cherry Valley commercial ducks were designed to three treatment groups with three replicates of ten birds each. Group I (control) was fed conventional feed free of AFB1, group II or III was fed the diets containing 20 μg/kg or 40 μg/kg AFB1-contaminated rice respectively. The feeding trial lasted 6 weeks. The results were that decreased body weight gain and feed intake, increased feed to gain ratio and selected organ weights (liver, kidney and pancreas) were observed in AFB1-treated groups. The activities of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were significantly increased in AFB1-contamined groups. The apparent digestibility of crude protein (CP) was significantly lower while activities of digestive enzyme from duodenum contents including protease, chymotrypsin, trypsin and amylase were increased in AFB1-treated group. These results indicated that AFB1 of feed could decrease growth performance and apparent digestibility of nutrients, change digestive enzyme activities of duodenum contents in duck. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The objective of this study was to optimize the protocols for bovine oocytes activation through comparing the effectiveness of different treatments on the activation and subsequent development of oocytes and examining the effects of two combined activation treatments on the blastocyst apoptosis and ploidy. Cumulus–oocyte complexes (COCs) were recovered from abattoir-derived ovaries and matured in vitro. After maturation, cumulus-free oocytes were activated according to the experiment designs. Activated oocytes were cultured in vitro in modified synthetic oviductal fluid (mSOF) medium and assessed for pronuclear formation (15–16h), cleavage (46–48h) and development to the blastocyst stage. In Experiment 1, the matured oocytes were treated with single activation agents, including ionomycin (5μM for 5min), ethanol (7% for 7min), calcium ionophore A23187 (5μM for 5min) or strontium (10mM for 5h). The pronuclear formation and cleavage rate were higher significantly in ionomycin (39.0 and 30.7%) and ethanol (41.5 and 28.1%) treatment alone compared to other treatments (9.7–25.2 and 11.3–23.7%, respectively, P <0.05). Very low blastocyst rates (3.9–5.3%) resulted which were not significantly different among treatments (P >0.05). For the combined activation treatment (Experiment 2), the same concentrations of ionomycin and ethanol as in Experiment 1 were used in combination with either 6-dimethylaminopurine (6-DMAP, 2.0mM for 3h) or cycloheximide (CHX)+cytochalasin B (CB, 10μg/ml for 3h). The pronuclear formation, cleavage rate, blastocyst rate and cell number of blastocyst were higher significantly (P <0.05) in ionomycin+6-DMAP treatment (67.1, 69.2, 28.0 and 91.3%, respectively) and ethanol+CHX+CB treatment (68.9, 70.2, 25.5 and 89.3%, respectively) compared to other treatments (11.7–58.1, 10.2–47.1, 1.5–24.2 and 34.2–62.7%, respectively). In Experiment 3, the parthenogenetic blastocysts produced by activation with ionomycin+6-DAMP and ethanol+CHX+CB and in vitro fertilized blastocysts (control group) were examined for apoptosis using a terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated deoxyuridine 5-triphosphate nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay. The ethanol+CHX+CB treatment (7.0%) showed significantly lower blastocyst apoptosis index compared to ionomycin+6-DAMP treatment (9.1%, P <0.05). Furthermore, the chromosomal composition in the parthenotes embryos differed (P <0.05) among treatments. The percentage of haploid parthenotes was higher in ionomycin+6-DMAP treatment than ethanol+CHX+CB treatment. These results suggested that ethanol+CHX+CB treatment was more favorable protocol for parthenogenesis of bovine oocytes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]